Cheeseburger Salad with Big Mac Dressing

Hot salads have a way of satisfying that their cold counterparts lack. They’re weighted. Hefty. They stick to your ribs. And now, apparently, they taste like a loaded cheeseburger—minus the bun.

The dressing is a healthier adaptation of the secret sauce used on McDonald’s famous Big Mac. It’s creamy and sweet with a slightly pickled flavor—similar to Russian dressing. It balances the savory, garlicky flavor of the sautéed beef and onion.

Make this salad if you—like me—love nothing more than cheeseburgers and 20 minute meals.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium. Add the onion and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the ground beef and cook for about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally and using the spatula to crumble the meat.

Add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant. The meat should no longer be pink; if it is, continue to cook until browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside while you assemble the salads.

Divide the romaine, tomatoes, and cheese evenly among four large bowls or plates. Divide the beef mixture evenly among the salads. Drizzle each serving with 2 tablespoons dressing. Serve immediately.

Hey there! This salad looks delicious, but for some reason I can’t see the recipe in the post! It ends with the sentence “Make this salad if you…” and then there’s another picture but no recipe. Am I missing something? Thanks

It’s a good idea to use full-fat (or at least reduced rather than fat-free) dressings and cheese for salads. Your body needs the fat to process the greens. If your’e worried about using too much dressing, use the old Weight Watchers tip and dip your fork in the dressing on the side, then pick up some salad. You use a lot less dressing, but still get the flavor.

This made me smile. I’m gluten-intolerant, and there’s not a whole lot gluten-free to eat in the cafeteria at work. So one day, I served myself up some salad greens with a little bit of shredded cheese, and yep the tomatos and a couple of pickles. I bought a hambuger patty and chopped it up and put it on my salad, which I topped off with a packet of light mayo, mustard and ketchup. And it tasted good!

I have been daydreaming about this all day. I NEVER do that. All through work, all through 90 minutes of yoga. Could not get it out of my mind! I made the salad dressing and chopped onions before yoga so it was like a 10 minute dish from skillet to table. Served it on heirloom lettuce and it was MAGNIFICENT!!!
This is going in the rotation. As a working mom, dishes like this are my salvation.
Thank you so much.
And thank you for using full fat food. It took me a really long time to understand that there is no “bad” food. I really, really appreciate that.

Pampered Chef has a similar recipe; I think yours looks better, though! The PC recipe has you toast a burger bun and use it as croutons, which might be a good addition if you’re not watching the carbs.

Ah what a brilliant idea! I’ve only ever had bites of Big Macs as I don’t ever actually want to eat the whole thing, yet those bites are quite delicious! ha This looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try this out! Thanks for sharing the “secret recipe”

Mmmmm… This looks amazing. I’m gluten intolerant so I have to nix the bun anyway, and a salad is the perfect way to get all those yummy flavors in. Yeah! Burger, my favorite burger place in Atlanta (which actually has gluten free buns, by the way!) has this amazing sriracha mayo that I bet would taste incredible on this salad as a dressing!

OH My Lordy, this is hands down the best salad I have eaten in a longggggg time. Loved it. Left of the cheese (I am allergic) and substituted soy yoghurt, added a pile more veggies, capsicums, crunchy sprouts, cucumber ( I know, not on a Big Mac) it was sooo delicious. Thansk very much for your ingenuity, respect and full bellies from New Zealand

I pulled this recipe from the back of my brain (put on hold a while back) and pulled it up on my phone at the grocery store. Absolutely one of the best salads I have ever made (salads NEVER taste as good when you make them yourself IMHO)…I was skeptical about the dressing, but oh my gosh – delicious! I have Burger leftover and will be having another cheeseburger salad tonight for dinner – well done and thanks for sharing!

Whenever we have burgers for dinner (we have turkey burgers here at our house – bad beef experience… never quite got over it), I always cook a few extra patties to make a burger salad for myself the next day. It’s one of my favorite “left over” lunches & I have to say I can’t wait to try this version! It looks very yummy & I might even convince my husband to try it (McD’s special sauce is one of his favorites). Thanks!

I had the Cheeseburger Salad for lunch. The sauce reminded me of a sandwich they used to sell at Kresge’s (now known as K-Mart). I slathered the sauce on the middle third of a Flax/Oatbran wrap then added chopped turkey, chopped ham, chopped dill pickles and salad mix. Very tasty!

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Thank you for such a wonderful idea! We just had it for supper tonight and my entire family loved it. I ended up using the Top Secret Recipe version of the dressing and added a bit of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to the beef but kept everything else the same. Quick, simple, and really yummy. I look forward to making it again soon.

I made this last night. My daughter ate 3 bowls! Yummie! I’m working on a pinterest board of salads with a restaurant twist. This was perfect! I did find the meat needed salt. The previous commenter that used Lawry’s, good idea. Thank You!